Review of Solstice

Solstice is funny. It is tragic without somberness, moving without sentimentality. It’s squalid, but without a trace of self-pity. … It allows its characters to be fatally screwed up and sublime at once, and the list of playwrights who can do that is short indeed.

A review of Rock Saber at the Magnetic Field

“Songs are so antiquarian,” laments Heyman, the frontman of the faux band The Old Gray Goose is Dead, a brigade of inept, if well-intentioned, scumbags. The Magnetic Field’s deliciously disgusting Rock Saber, a “rock ‘n’ roll anti-musical,” features what is advertised as “possibly the worst band you’ll ever see,” devoted to shocking crowds with abuse of their instruments. In Rock Saber, Goose bandmates traverse between a venue creepily called “The Suppositorium” and their porn-den of a shared hovel. What ensues is 90 minutes of filth, sometimes outright hilarious, and sometimes too inane to process. Recommended for cheap — but very loud — laughs.

Review of The Witches’ Quorum

I love the director and the entire cast and crew of The Witches’ Quorum — including all the designers and the handsome ticket-takers — because they stand on the winning side of what seemed an experiment in finding out how good a production you can get out of David Eshelman’s lousy script. For Quorum is, in fact, a decent evening of theater, built as if by magic on a play that seems to have nothing to recommend it but the effort that talented people expended upon it.

Getting some breathing room, slightly west of Asheville

As we’ve recently said, the RAD is getting rather, well, rad. With the addition of several new restaurants joining an ever-burgeoning food and entertainment scene, there’s plenty to do in east-West Asheville.

Xpress photographer Chris Wood was on hand to capture the goings-on in the district on the fairly busy Thursday night before Memorial Day Weekend. View the slideshow after the jump.

Review of The Family Tree

Twisted family dynamics grow tall in The Family Tree, written by Lucia Del Vecchio and directed by Steven Samuels.

The Family Tree continues at The Magnetic Field at 364 Depot St. Thursdays through Saturdays, May 19-21 and 26-28, with two shows per night, at 7:30 and 10:00. Tickets are $12-$14 with open seating.

Entertaini­ng eats

We’re multitaskers: We want to eat our cake and watch our movies, too. Luckily, the days of dinner and a show aren’t over. Here are some dining options to consider when a plate of food isn’t quite enough to keep you fully occupied. Arcade Asheville The Arcade is one part game room, with vintage favorites […]